“If a country is to be corruption free and become a nation of beautiful minds, I strongly feel that there are three key societal members who can make a difference. They are the fathers, the mothers and the teachers” - (L) Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam. This quote by Kalam Sir clearly highlights the importance of education and teachers in his view.
Kalam Sir’s life needs no introduction. Coming from a humble background, he made education his biggest ally. Coupled with conviction and determination it made him rise to the top position of our country and command respect globally. Even after holding prime positions of responsibility throughout his life across domains, teaching remained his biggest passion. His life is a treasure of learnings for generations to follow.
“Nurturing Minds” - a noble initiative by IIM Shillong inspired by the life of Kalam Sir. It is an attempt to spread his teachings and ideals by giving back to the society, helping the community and keeping the spirit of ‘igniting minds’ alive. It aims at teaching and touching the lives of young, under-privileged students, in order to facilitate better learning, foster self-confidence and improve academic performance.
I was privileged to be a part of the group of students working on this initiative. We started with approaching the schools in Shillong to understand the needs of students. After multiple rounds of interaction with principals and faculty members across schools, we found the students to be lagging in the subject of Mathematics. With this concern in mind, we approached our IIM Shillong student fraternity for their support towards this cause and were delighted by the overwhelming response of both the senior as well as the junior batch. The onus of teaching was placed on their committed shoulders.
With the support of our Director and the administration, we brought 3 schools on board and 35 students of 8th standard expressed their interest to enrol for the classes. The next few weeks were judiciously spent in designing the framework and bringing the volunteers on board. The volunteers met the school teachers and designed the course pedagogy. The idea was to use innovative and interactive teaching aids -- audio-visuals, smart boards, life-size 3D figures, simulation games and other futuristic tools to make learning enjoyable for the young minds and help them overcome the maths phobia.
17th October, 2 days from the 84th birth anniversary of (L) Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam was when we began the inaugural class. The young students entered the IIM Shillong campus with mixed feelings of excitement, nervousness, shyness and hope. The classes began with an hour of ice-breaker session with the students to make them feel at home. Shri Falguni Rajkumar, Chairman, Board of Governors, IIM Shillong and Dr. Basav Roychoudhury, PGP Chairman were present there in full support of the volunteers and ensured that the students felt welcome and aware of the opportunities ahead.
The volunteers took over and the classes begun with the fundamentals of geometry and algebra. We grew in confidence as we saw the initial hesitation in the students turn into smiles and nods of understanding and appreciation of our pedagogy. They seemed to enjoy the innovative and fun ways of learning polynomials and figures. The session ended with the students munching on some refreshments. The satisfied look on their faces filled us all with vigour as we looked forward to the next session in a week’s time.
Our plan is to hold regular weekend classes for the young, under-privileged students of standard 8th, 9th and 10th to develop their academic skills, IT skills and public speaking abilities. Our vision is to expand our services to include more students in Shillong – needy and willing – and groom and counsel them towards an informed future. It is our pledge to make this initiative a torch-bearer of Kalam Sir’s spirit and his ideals.
Author- Abhishek Jaiswal
(A first year PGDM student and member of the Student Council of IIM Shillong)
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